World Twenty20 2016: Can England win the tournament?
An ignominious defeat by the
Netherlands and a limp exit from a tournament they had won four years
earlier, the 2014 World Twenty20 marked one of the lowest points in
England cricket history. Thanks to a stunning change of approach,
Eoin Morgan's side can now be considered serious contenders for the 2016
competition in India starting on 8 March.
A historic 3-0 series
whitewash of Pakistan in the UAE in November extended England's winning
T20 run to six games - and they have lost only once since their Dutch humiliation.
After the draw for the World T20
was made on Friday, England batsman Joe Root and former spinner and
2010 winner Graeme Swann assess the reasons behind their resurgence and
discuss whether they can become the first side to win the competition
twice.
Andrew Strauss won only four T20 caps as a player, but the decision by England's director of cricket to concentrate more on limited-overs cricket this year was a vital factor in their T20 resurgence this year, according to Swann and Root.
"The greatest thing that's happened is Strauss getting in charge and completely separating the Test and one-day cricket formats, getting specialists in, people who have grown up playing the game," says Swann, who played 39 T20s between 2008 and 2012.
"In my time if you were a centrally contracted player you played ahead of guys that played a lot more T20 cricket.
"I don't think it's any surprise that the upturn in results is due to guys who are just better at the game playing for England."
Yet with separation has come a greater sense of unity between the ODI and T20 sides.
"The way we've approached one-day cricket recently has definitely helped the T20 team with more consistency in the overlap between the sides," says Root.
"You've got guys like Alex Hales and Jason Roy getting a lot more international experience.
"Having that opening partnership go across both formats and that understanding of batting with one another, that's very important."
"The greatest thing that's happened is Strauss getting in charge and completely separating the Test and one-day cricket formats, getting specialists in, people who have grown up playing the game," says Swann, who played 39 T20s between 2008 and 2012.
"In my time if you were a centrally contracted player you played ahead of guys that played a lot more T20 cricket.
"I don't think it's any surprise that the upturn in results is due to guys who are just better at the game playing for England."
Yet with separation has come a greater sense of unity between the ODI and T20 sides.
"The way we've approached one-day cricket recently has definitely helped the T20 team with more consistency in the overlap between the sides," says Root.
"You've got guys like Alex Hales and Jason Roy getting a lot more international experience.
"Having that opening partnership go across both formats and that understanding of batting with one another, that's very important."
